Mortgage Market Update for January 20th

President Donald Trump has taken the oath of office today in Washington D.C. Mr. Trump is now become the 45th president of the United States after resting his hand on his family bible and the Abraham Lincoln bible at 12:00 p.m. ET in Washington D.C. The transfer of power from Mr. Obama to Mr. Trump will be seen around the globe, which is broad casted from the steps of the U.S Capitol that houses Congress.

Closing rates for mortgage loans rose to their highest point in December for all of 2016, reported loan origination software company Ellie Mae. Ellie Mae reported that closing rates for all loans rose to 73.2% in December, while refinance closings increased to 69.6%, and purchases increased to 77% in December. "As rates began to increase we saw purchases tick back up in December, signaling the start of a trend we expect to continue into 2017," Ellie Mae president and CEO Jonathan Corr said.

The student loan sector of the economy continues to be a sore spot for lenders as well as borrowers. It is believed that there are far more students that have defaulted on their loans than previously reported. Of the 1,000 colleges or trade schools surveyed, it is believed that half the students have defaulted or have failed to pay down at least $1 on the loans within seven years. There is nearly $1.3 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S., which made up of 44 million borrowers. The average student loan debt for the class of 2016 is around $37,000, up 6% from 2015.